Treatment of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Economic Cost-Risk Analysis of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Agents

Abstract

Purpose: To find the best cost-effective neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treatment to improve vision while avoiding complications. The model is based on a cost-risk tradeoff analysis from policymakers' perspective.

Design: A powerful and flexible simulation modeled outcomes of 2 years of treatment with the 4 commonly used anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs (bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and brolucizumab) across 3 injection protocols, building on prior findings that these drugs are noninferior. The model incorporates blinding complications, their management, and associated costs to society. Each option and several what-if scenarios were simulated 1,000 times with 100,000 hypothetical patients.

Participants: One hundred thousand simulated patients using data from published clinical trials.

Method: Case- and eye-specific cost-risk economic analysis.

Main outcome measures: Costs of nAMD treatment per patient and number of eyes that become blind as a result of treatment over 2 years.

Results: Using published prices and fees, the injection protocol that follows published clinical studies, results showed that the mean±standard deviation cost per patient were $16,859 ± $3.65, $32,949 ± $3.27, $39,831 ± $3.80, and $53,056 ± $2.99 for bevacizumab, brolucizumab, aflibercept, and ranibizumab, respectively. The numbers±standard deviations of treated eyes that became blind were 108 ± 10.18, 694 ± 26.66, 168 ± 12.83, and 108 ± 10.52, respectively. We further provide a lower bound (when all patients are maximally extended) and upper bound (when no patient is extended) to these numbers. For brolucizumab, the upper bound is the 2-month interval injection protocol.

Conclusions: Taking a policymaking perspective, this study suggested that bevacizumab is the preferred first-line therapy. Recommendation for second-line therapy depends on the extent of the policymaker's risk aversion because of the tradeoff between cost and risk of blindness as a result of treatment. If risk neutral, the least expensive option (brolucizumab) is preferred. But if policymakers are moderately to highly risk averse, then aflibercept or ranibizumab are preferred. Because medical advances and different costs may change our findings, we provide a free application (https://eye-inj.shinyapps.io/calc/) for readers who wish to use different cost structures. Simulating outcomes is an innovative approach, unique in ophthalmology, and presents a significant opportunity because it can be adapted easily to different settings (using different costs, risks, and protocols) and to other diseases (e.g., diabetic macular edema), to ultimately improve wide-scale decision-making and use of funds.

Keywords: Anti-VEGF; cost-risk; intravitreal injections; neovascular AMD.